Northern Italy trip

We decided shortly before Christmas to do a trip over the break to fill up the 3 week break Travis had from school(kids here are on vacation a LOT!)  Ryan and I love Italy so we planned a driving trip through northern Italy- Verona, Venice, Modena, and Stresa.

Verona is the town if you recall your high school English where Romeo and Juliet is based. I was fascinated by the beautiful marble streets-we had seen this in Turin but there they were covered. At night with the lights from the shops reflecting off of the marble and the Christmas lights it was a magical atmosphere. We stayed just off the main shopping drag and it was packed from about 4:30 to 7 each night-this is called the "passeggiata"-the evening stroll.

 

Though Romeo and Julie were not real they were based on real families in Verona, and you can visit "Juliet's balcony." There is a statue of Juliet that if you rub her breast is supposed to bring you luck in love (her breast now has a hole in it!)

After Verona we made our way to Venice, one of my favorite European cities!  Venice is a difficult place to navigate because there are no cars on the island. We had to turn our car in keys and all to a parking garage with just a slip of paper to show that we had turned in a vehicle. Then we took a water bus to a stop close to the apartment where we were staying, where the owner then met us (1 hour late, typical Italy! :) He then took our luggage on his boat to our place. While our place was a bit sketchy it was a terrific location in central Venice and bringing the kids' scooters really helped with keeping them going through all the walking. 

Venice truly is "decaying elegance." The architecture is so beautiful but the buildings literally seem to be crumbling before your eyes. Makes you wonder how much longer Venice will be around..

 

I absolutely love Murano glass so it was terrific to take the boat over to Murano to see glass being made. I also picked up some jewelry and decore items for the house. I'm not a big shopper but Venice is one of those places where I can just look and look and look!

The kids had a lot of fun feeding the pigeons in San Marco Square..

We left Venice and headed for Modena-if the name sounds familiar you may have seen it on basalmic vinegar bottles.  The making of the vinegar is quite an art and there are a small number of families who have made it over the generations. We visited a family vintner's house and participated in a basalmic vinegar tasting-even Travis tasted it! The good stuff goes for about $150 for 1 oz-needless to say we didn't get the best stuff but we did bring something back for special occasions. It was a really unique experience!

In Modena we stayed at a farm that is part of the Italian Agriturismo movement. The bed and breakfast was a renovated farmhouse and in addition to growing wine and keeping donkeys, chickens, and cows the owner bottled their own jams and honeys which were delicious.


Ryan and Travis had a boys' trip to the Ferrari museum while we were there and had a great time.

We also visited Parma, home of parmesan cheese. We had delicious meals there as well as in Modena, this area of Italy is definitely a culinary epicenter. 

This is at a cathedral in Parma where the kids lit a candle for good health for their grandparents-I like the intense look on Travis's face in this photo.

Finally we headed to Stresa, which is on Lake Maggiore. We were there for just one night and the weather wasn't totally cooperative so we didn't do much but we had a fantastic dinner!



On the way home over the Alps naturally there was a snowstorm which made for some tense driving, but we eventually made it home. After our trip we are all pretty maxed out on pasta given how much we ate!!! Once we get over our pasta overload I plan to give the pasta maker that Ryan gave me a shot. :)

December 2013..Snow, Europapark, Christmas!

Better late than never!  I meant to sent this out before Christmas, but you know how things get around the holidays!
We got some snow at the beginning of December that hung around for a couple weeks. We bought a couple sleds that are rather hi-tech-they even have steering and brakes! (as there were no basic saucers like I had when I was a kid!)  The kids really enjoyed sledding and making snow angels.

 Once the kids were out of school we visited Europark in Germany, a smaller version of Disneyworld, some parts copied right down to the Epcot silver ball! The holiday decorations were so beautiful and the kids loved the rides of course!

A sampling of decorations from Vevey, the town we live in, and other places around. The decorations here are more understated, lots of white and silver-very pretty! We went to several Christmas markets where handcrafted items were sold and the drink to have was "vin chaud" (hot wine!) I am not a fan of it!

 

 Ryan has been traveling a lot to the US over the past few months-this is him at Rockefeller Center..

 Travis and Savannah got on skis for the first time-Travis really seemed to take to it pretty well! This is in Verbier. Ryan has skied there a couple times already as well

  We stayed here for Christmas which was different and hard not being with our family. However we did visit Papa Noel to help the kids get excited about Christmas. We did have a very nice holiday and it was great to have new friends here who had us over on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

 Savannah really got the knack of opening presents this year!! She helped everyone open their presents! Travis was so excited about the crane he got from Santa!

 Happy New Year to everyone!